The Gudauskas Bros camp Oz's East Coast - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

10 Views

The Gudauskas Bros camp Oz’s East Coast

Pat, Dane and Tanner Gudauskas are California’s three favourite sons. Golden hair, white teeth and “Hells yeah!” attitudes to boot, they’re a trio of smiles and good times. In textbook Gudang style, the gang’ve spent their time since the Quik Pro, Gold Coast, camping out along the east coast of Australia. The boys have been shooting for a Vans surf film, which you’ll find out more about real soon. Stab called the sole WT surfer Pat to find out about the trip. Reaching Pat was a gamble, as the bros’ whole crew all share the same Australian number. Over the last two days, three different people answered before Pat was available to talk. Stab: So, the run of camping’s reached its end? Pat Gudauskas: Yeah, we’re staying at the Swiss Grand Hotel in Bondi for the night. We ditched the tent. We actually donated it to people in the last camping ground we were at, which was in Narrabeen. We leave tomorrow for West Oz, so we decided to spend our last night over this side (of Oz) in a hotel, to crescendo our month in the tent. Tell me about your tent set-up. We went to that, ah, not K-Mart… what’s the other one? Is it ‘Circle Mart’ or something? Some Target-looking thing? That place is actually called Target. Yeah! We just got sleeping bags, tents and these little inflatable mattresses. It was pretty classic. They were pretty crappy and we flooded the things multiple times. We got squalls in Narrabeen for like, a week. Where else did you camp, aside from Narrabeen? Well we kinda started up there on the Gold Coast, went to Byron Bay, Yamba, Forster, Narrabeen, Ulladulla… we kinda went everywhere. There were a few random spots too. We kinda did the whole coast – we figured we’d never been here before, so we may as well. We were psyched. The best one… I think Forster was bullshit. Pretty cheap way to do it? Well it wasn’t as cheap as we thought (laughs). We were paying like 50 bucks for the night at each campsite, so we figured we may as well be getting a hotel room. But whatever, it’s a fun way to do it, you can just pop up anywhere. You surfed some heavy spots like Shipsterns and Ours while you were here. First, tell us about Shipsterns. It was sick – our first time down there. We got the call from Mark (Mathews), so we sorted out some step-ups and did the bolt from Ulladulla and just charged down. I think it gets a lot bigger, but it was pretty mental. It was a perfect intro for us, though. I ended up riding one of Matt Banting’s old old Pipe guns. And Ours? The day we surfed Ours, we posted up in the bush, in the National Park, ’cause we didn’t know where it was. We had no fucken clue, we were just pulled-over in the bush, then in the morning we couldn’t find the wave. When we found it, we were freaking. We didn’t think it was surfable. We rolled up and there was no one out, so we were like “Oh man, are you kidding? Is that it? Holy shit.” Then some of the boys rolled up and were like, “Come on, let’s jump in!” What sucked the most about camping? Definitely the mosquitos. They were gnarly through the whole mid-coast area, like Forster. We were getting mowed by ’em. That, and all the rain. We had one night, when we partied huge, came in and Dane woke up literally four inches underwater. Other than that, having so much luggage. We’d pick up everyday and go, “Where do we wanna go?” and then have to take the tent down, pack everything up, then set back up at the next spot. But you get in the rhythm. Ah, good, I’ve been looking for an excuse to use this word – did you get good at erecting the tent? Dude we got so gnarly at it – by the end it was five minutes, up and down. Did you roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories? We should have, but we couldn’t have fires anywhere. The campsites are all to scared of burning down the forest. We were kinda bummed, ’cause in California you can just campfire-up wherever you are. So we didn’t bring out the marshmallows per se, but there was some Griswold moments going down (For ‘Griswold’ See National Lampoons Vacation). Andrew Doheny was with us for a while and he locked us out of our RV one night, in the pissing rain, so we had to break into our own RV. That was awesome.

news // Feb 22, 2016
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Pat, Dane and Tanner Gudauskas are California’s three favourite sons. Golden hair, white teeth and “Hells yeah!” attitudes to boot, they’re a trio of smiles and good times. In textbook Gudang style, the gang’ve spent their time since the Quik Pro, Gold Coast, camping out along the east coast of Australia. The boys have been shooting for a Vans surf film, which you’ll find out more about real soon. Stab called the sole WT surfer Pat to find out about the trip. Reaching Pat was a gamble, as the bros’ whole crew all share the same Australian number. Over the last two days, three different people answered before Pat was available to talk.

Stab: So, the run of camping’s reached its end?
Pat Gudauskas: Yeah, we’re staying at the Swiss Grand Hotel in Bondi for the night. We ditched the tent. We actually donated it to people in the last camping ground we were at, which was in Narrabeen. We leave tomorrow for West Oz, so we decided to spend our last night over this side (of Oz) in a hotel, to crescendo our month in the tent.

Tell me about your tent set-up. We went to that, ah, not K-Mart… what’s the other one? Is it ‘Circle Mart’ or something? Some Target-looking thing?

That place is actually called Target. Yeah! We just got sleeping bags, tents and these little inflatable mattresses. It was pretty classic. They were pretty crappy and we flooded the things multiple times. We got squalls in Narrabeen for like, a week.

Where else did you camp, aside from Narrabeen? Well we kinda started up there on the Gold Coast, went to Byron Bay, Yamba, Forster, Narrabeen, Ulladulla… we kinda went everywhere. There were a few random spots too. We kinda did the whole coast – we figured we’d never been here before, so we may as well. We were psyched. The best one… I think Forster was bullshit.

Pretty cheap way to do it? Well it wasn’t as cheap as we thought (laughs). We were paying like 50 bucks for the night at each campsite, so we figured we may as well be getting a hotel room. But whatever, it’s a fun way to do it, you can just pop up anywhere.

You surfed some heavy spots like Shipsterns and Ours while you were here. First, tell us about Shipsterns. It was sick – our first time down there. We got the call from Mark (Mathews), so we sorted out some step-ups and did the bolt from Ulladulla and just charged down. I think it gets a lot bigger, but it was pretty mental. It was a perfect intro for us, though. I ended up riding one of Matt Banting’s old old Pipe guns.

And Ours? The day we surfed Ours, we posted up in the bush, in the National Park, ’cause we didn’t know where it was. We had no fucken clue, we were just pulled-over in the bush, then in the morning we couldn’t find the wave. When we found it, we were freaking. We didn’t think it was surfable. We rolled up and there was no one out, so we were like “Oh man, are you kidding? Is that it? Holy shit.” Then some of the boys rolled up and were like, “Come on, let’s jump in!”

What sucked the most about camping? Definitely the mosquitos. They were gnarly through the whole mid-coast area, like Forster. We were getting mowed by ’em. That, and all the rain. We had one night, when we partied huge, came in and Dane woke up literally four inches underwater. Other than that, having so much luggage. We’d pick up everyday and go, “Where do we wanna go?” and then have to take the tent down, pack everything up, then set back up at the next spot. But you get in the rhythm.

Ah, good, I’ve been looking for an excuse to use this word – did you get good at erecting the tent? 
Dude we got so gnarly at it – by the end it was five minutes, up and down.

Did you roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories? We should have, but we couldn’t have fires anywhere. The campsites are all to scared of burning down the forest. We were kinda bummed, ’cause in California you can just campfire-up wherever you are. So we didn’t bring out the marshmallows per se, but there was some Griswold moments going down (For ‘Griswold’ See National Lampoons Vacation). Andrew Doheny was with us for a while and he locked us out of our RV one night, in the pissing rain, so we had to break into our own RV. That was awesome.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part Two

A few more foam craftsmen worth keeping on your radar.

Jul 14, 2025

Watch: Rip Curl Mobilises Its Teenage Army In ‘Dunno’

A 30-minute surf film by Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet.

Jul 14, 2025

There’s A New Number One Surfer In The World

And it feels so right.

Jul 13, 2025

Controversial Opinion: No One Needs To Yoga In Boardshorts

8 Trunks for the traditionalist.

Jul 13, 2025

Stab Edit Of The Year: Sam Piter Stars in ‘Rogue DNA’.

French blood, thick water.

Jul 13, 2025

Matty McG Skydives Into CT Heat, But Jordy’s Still The Main Event

A full day of heats at J-Bay, and only one shark warning.

Jul 12, 2025

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025
Advertisement